Salt and Light
You are the salt of the earth
Two things you can tap
- A verse number shows the Bible’s exact words.
- An underlined word shows what it means.
Story
What happened?
Tap a verse number, like , to read the Bible’s exact words.
Who’s who and what came beforePeople, places, and the story so far. Open it anytime.
Scene Card
Cast
- Jesus: The one the Gospels present as the promised Messiah and the Son of God. He has recently started teaching in public.
- The disciples: Jesus's first followers. So far, Matthew has named four fishermen: Peter, Andrew, James, and John.
- The crowd: People from many towns. Many of them came to Jesus sick or in pain. They are listening too (7:28).
Setting
- A mountain in Galilee, the area in northern Israel where Jesus grew up. The Bible does not say which mountain.
- Jesus is sitting down to teach, the way teachers did back then. His disciples are close to him (5:1).
When
- Early in Jesus's work, about 2,000 years ago. This is right after the Beatitudes.
Before the Story
This is part of the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5 to 7 hold one long teaching of Jesus. It starts with the Beatitudes, the blessings (5:3-12).
The blessings ended with "you." Jesus stopped saying "they" and started saying "you." He told his listeners that people might insult them because of him (5:11).
Most of Jesus's listeners were Jewish, like Jesus. They knew God's law, given through Moses, and the words of God's prophets.
Here's what you know that almost nobody in this story knows: Later, Jesus would say, "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12). The light he talks about here comes from him.
Map of the Story
| Scene | Verses | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1. You are the salt | 5:13 | Jesus tells his followers what they are |
| 2. When salt stops being salt | 5:13 | A warning about useless salt |
| 3. You are the light | 5:14-15 | A city on a hill and a lamp on a stand |
| 4. Let your light shine | 5:16 | Good deeds point to God |
| 5. Not to tear down | 5:17-18 | Jesus came to fulfill the Law |
| 6. The smallest commands | 5:19 | Every command matters |
| 7. More than the Pharisees | 5:20 | A righteousness greater than the most devoted |
Plain Retelling
Scene 1 of 7You Are the Salt
The blessings were over. Jesus was still sitting on the mountain. The crowds were still listening. Jesus kept teaching.
His disciples were close to him. Some were fishermen. They were ordinary people. Many in the crowd had come sick or hurting.
Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth" (5:13).
This is a comparison. Jesus did not mean they were made of salt. He meant they were like salt in the world.
Back then, salt made food taste good. Salt also kept meat and fish from going bad. There were no fridges. A little salt did a lot of good.
Jesus did not say, "Try to become salt." He did not say, "Earn it." He said, "You are." He was telling them what they already were.
Scene 2 of 7When Salt Stops Being Salt
Then Jesus gave a warning. "But if the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again?" (5:13). Savor means taste.
Salt that has lost its taste is no good for anything. People throw it out, and people trample it. Trample means to walk all over something.
Pure salt does not lose its taste. So careful readers have asked what Jesus meant. One likely reason: salt back then was often mixed with other minerals. If the real salt washed out, the rest still looked like salt. But it could not do salt's job.
One likely meaning: Jesus's followers are made to be salt. Salt that stops being salt can no longer do the job it exists for.
Scene 3 of 7You Are the Light
Jesus used a second comparison. "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden" (5:14).
At night, a town on a hilltop glows. People can see its lights from far away.
Then Jesus talked about a house. Houses back then had small oil lamps. People did not light a lamp and then put a basket over it. The basket would hide the light.
Instead, people set the lamp on a stand. Then "it gives light to everyone in the house" (5:15).
A lamp does not have to try to shine. Shining is what a lit lamp does. Someone else lights it.
Halfway thereThis is a good place for a break. Your spot is saved on this device.
Scene 4 of 7Let Your Light Shine
Then Jesus told them what the light is for. "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven" (5:16).
"Men" here means people. Glorify means to praise and honor.
The good deeds are real. Other people see them. But the goal is not for people to praise the one who did them. The goal is for them to praise God.
So the light is not about us. It is about our Father in heaven.
Scene 5 of 7Not to Tear Down
Then Jesus spoke about God's law. The Law was God's teaching given through Moses. The Prophets were the books of God's messengers. Together, "the Law and the Prophets" meant the Scriptures Jesus's listeners already knew.
Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets" (5:17). To abolish means to get rid of something.
"I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them" (5:17). To fulfill means to fill something up completely, or to make it come true. Christians believe Jesus did this. He kept everything the Law says. He brought about what the Prophets promised.
Jesus said not a single jot would disappear from the Law. A jot was the smallest letter. Jesus added, "not a stroke of a pen" (5:18). That would stay true until heaven and earth pass away, until everything is accomplished. This is a comparison. It means every part of God's word matters, even the tiny parts.
Scene 6 of 7The Smallest Commands
Jesus went on. He talked about "the least" of the commands. Least means smallest or lowest. Someone might break one of these commands and teach others to break it too. That person would be called least in the kingdom of heaven.
The kingdom of heaven means God's rule. It is the way God runs things.
But someone who "practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven" (5:19).
Jesus did not treat God's law as old or unimportant. He treated it as God's own word.
Scene 7 of 7More Than the Pharisees
Then Jesus said something very strong.
"For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (5:20).
Righteousness means being right with God and doing what is right. The scribes were teachers of Moses's law. The Pharisees were a Jewish group devoted to carefully keeping God's law. Many of them were sincere. People respected them.
The Bible doesn't say how the crowd reacted right then. But remember, these teachers were known for keeping God's law carefully. Jesus was not mocking them. Right after this, Jesus showed what he meant. God's law reaches past what we do. It reaches our thoughts and feelings too. Anger matters to God, not only murder (5:21-22).
This raises a question: who could be right enough with God? Earlier in this same teaching, Jesus had already given part of the answer. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (5:6).
People do not fill themselves. God does the filling.
Meaning
What does it mean?
Read It
What Does This Mean?
| The text says | It means |
|---|---|
| "You are the salt of the earth" (5:13) | This is a comparison. Jesus says what his followers already are. Like salt, they are for the good of the world around them. |
| "If the salt loses its savor" (5:13) | Salt that stops tasting like salt is no use. This is a warning, not a test you have to pass alone. |
| "You are the light of the world" (5:14) | This is a comparison. God's people carry light into a dark world. The light comes from God. |
| "A city on a hill cannot be hidden" (5:14) | What God has made you is not meant to be hidden. |
| "Put it under a basket" (5:15) | Nobody lights a lamp to cover it up. A lamp is for giving light. |
| "Glorify your Father in heaven" (5:16) | Good deeds point to God. People end up praising God, not us. |
| "To fulfill them" (5:17) | Christians believe Jesus does everything the Law asks and brings everything the Prophets promised. |
| "Not a single jot" (5:18) | Jot was the smallest letter. Every part of God's word matters. |
| "Unless your righteousness exceeds..." (5:20) | Nobody can be right enough with God on their own. The righteousness that is enough is God's gift. |
Back Then
Salt had many jobs. People used it to season food and in offerings to God. Jesus's followers were compared to salt because salt cleans and keeps things from going bad (Easton's Bible Dictionary).
Where salt came from. Much of Israel's salt came from the southern shore of the Dead Sea. Some was dug as rock salt. Some was dried from the sea water (Smith's Bible Dictionary).
Can salt lose its taste? Pure salt does not. One likely reason for Jesus's words: salt from the Dead Sea area was often mixed with other minerals. Dampness could wash the real salt out and leave a tasteless powder. This is a common explanation, but our dictionaries do not make it.
Lamps. Lamps in homes were common (Easton's Bible Dictionary). They burned olive oil, like the lamps in God's tabernacle (Exodus 27:20).
The "basket." The Greek word was a container people used to measure grain. Older Bibles call it a "bushel" (Strong's Concordance).
Jot. The jot was the smallest letter. It may mean the Greek letter iota or the Hebrew letter yod, the smallest Hebrew letter (Easton's Bible Dictionary).
Israel was already called to be light. God told his servant Israel, "I will keep you and appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations" (Isaiah 42:6). Jesus's Jewish listeners would have known this calling.
Literal Reader Alert
Does "let your light shine" mean I have to be loud or outgoing? No. A lamp does not make noise. Light can be very quiet. It can look like helping someone, being honest, being kind, or doing careful work. Shy people, quiet people, and autistic people are not dim lights. You do not have to change your personality to shine. You shine because God has put his light in you.
Could I lose my saltiness? Jesus's warning is serious. It is about followers who give up being who God made them. But you do not keep yourself salty. Luther's Small Catechism says the Holy Spirit calls us and keeps us in the true faith (Concordia Triglotta English, 1921). If you are worried about this, that worry is itself a sign that you care about God.
Do I have to be more perfect than the Pharisees to get into heaven? No one can do that on their own. That is the point. The scribes and Pharisees tried very hard. Paul had been a Pharisee. He wrote that he was "as to righteousness in the law, faultless" (Philippians 3:6). Then he learned to want a different righteousness, "the righteousness from God on the basis of faith" (Philippians 3:9). That righteousness is a gift from Jesus.
Is Jesus against the Pharisees and Jewish practice? No. Jesus was Jewish. He said he did not come to get rid of the Law (5:17). Many Pharisees were deeply devoted to God. Later, Jesus argued strongly with some of them (Matthew 23). But the Pharisees were not worse than other people, and they do not stand for all Jewish people. The Bible doesn't say why Jesus named them here. One likely reason: his listeners knew them as people who kept God's law very carefully.
Do Christians have to keep every Old Testament law? Christians have talked about this since the very first churches (Acts 15). Most Christians, including Lutherans, believe Jesus fulfilled the Law for us. The Ten Commandments still show us how to love God and our neighbor. Paul wrote, "love is the fulfillment of the law" (Romans 13:10). It's okay to notice things like this. Careful readers have asked about it for centuries.
How People Feel
| Who | Feeling | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The crowds | Astonished | Jesus taught "as one who had authority," not like their scribes (7:28-29) |
For you
What does it mean for me?
Your Turn
Do you feel like salt and light? Tap one.
Not really
That's honest. Jesus did not say "if you feel like it." He said "You are." It is true because God says it, not because you feel it.
I'm too quiet
Light does not have to be loud. A quiet kindness is still light. God made you, quiet and all.
I'm not good enough
No one is good enough on their own, not even the most careful person. Jesus gives you his own righteousness as a gift.
I'm not sure
That's okay. Your light comes from Jesus, not from being sure. He is "the light of the world" (John 8:12).
Yes, sometimes
Thank God for that. When people see good in you, it points to your Father in heaven (5:16).
You Might Have Heard
"You need to try harder to be salt and light. If you don't, you're disappointing God."
What's true: God cares how we live. Good deeds matter, and people see them.
What the passage is mainly about: Who God has made his people. Jesus said "You are" (5:13) before he said anything to do. Salt does not strain to be salty. A lit lamp does not strain to shine. And the goal is not for people to notice us. It is for them to praise God (5:16).
Where Jesus is: Jesus is the one who fulfills the Law (5:17). He kept it fully, for us. He is the true light (John 8:12). This is a comparison. His light shines in his people and through them.
Good News
The standard in verse 20 is higher than anyone can reach. That is the Law at work. It shows us we cannot get there by ourselves.
But the Gospel is this. Jesus fulfilled the Law for you. He gives you his own righteousness as a gift. Paul wrote, "God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). In Baptism, God lit his light in you. This is the same comparison Jesus used. The Holy Spirit keeps that light burning.
You are salt and light because Jesus made you his own, not because you earned it.
Big Idea
God makes Jesus's followers salt and light, and Jesus fulfills the Law and gives us his righteousness as a gift.
If this story brings up big feelings, talk with someone you trust, like a parent, pastor, or counselor.
For leaders and parentsLuther, church readings, and notes for teaching.
From Luther
Martin Luther wrote The Freedom of a Christian in 1520. In it he wrote, "Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works." He pointed to Jesus's comparison about trees. A good tree bears good fruit (Matthew 7:18). This is the order in Matthew 5 too: Jesus first says what you are, then how your light shines.
Luther also preached on Matthew 5 to 7. Our source is his Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount (Charles A. Hay translation, 1892). There he taught that these words are for every Christian. Some teachers of his day said parts of the sermon were only for some people. They meant people who wanted to be "higher and more perfect," like monks. Luther disagreed.
In Church
Many churches follow a reading plan called the Revised Common Lectionary. It reads Matthew 5:13-20 on the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany in Year A.
We quote Luther for what he got right about grace. He also wrote terrible things about Jewish people. Read our note on that.
Memorize
How do I keep it?
One line from this story to learn by heart. Practice a little now. It will come back later so it sticks.
You are the light of the world.
How did that feel?